SAN JOSE, California – May 26, 2010 – SEMI PV Group today announced that the first annual North American Fab Managers Forum will be held at Intersolar North America 2010 in San Francisco, California on July 12, 2010. Hosted by SEMI PV Group, the Fab Managers Forum is focused on addressing shared supply chain challenges and improving customer-supplier relations across the photovoltaic supply chain.

Scott Clavenna, CEO at Greentech Media, will moderate the event, with Dan Martin, executive VP, SEMI PV Group, giving the opening remarks. The keynote is “Manufacturing in the 21st Century – Challenges and Opportunities in a Changing Environment” by Dr. Chris Hartshorn, research director, Lux Research. Other highlights include:

“Research and Development in the United States – Accelerating the Path to Commercialization” by Dr. Ryne Raffaelle, director, National Center for Photovoltaics, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

"PV supply chain issues are getting more and more complex. The North American PV Fab Managers Forum presents a much needed opportunity for manufacturers and suppliers to come together and identify challenges and supply chain bottlenecks that are best addressed collectively, as supply chain partners, and continue the dialogue to move the needle in the right direction for accelerated solar energy deployment in the U.S. and around the world," said Bettina Weiss, senior director, SEMI PV Group. “It really makes a difference when representatives from the entire supply chain are present.”

The PV Fab Managers Forum at Intersolar North America is new to North America, but the event follows the successful European PV Fab Managers Forum, held annually in Germany for the last three years. The next European PV Fab Managers Forum is in March 2011. These PV Fab Manager events use a collaborative approach that intensifies the discussion between the stakeholders to move the industry forward.

The event is designed for executives and business leaders from the PV industry, fab managers, lead engineers from wafer-, cell-, bulk silicon and thin film module manufacturers, and executives, strategists, product managers and technical experts from suppliers to the industry.

For complete details on Intersolar North America 2010, including exhibition opportunities, the schedule of events, session agendas, and speaker information, please visit the Intersolar North America website at www.intersolar.us

SEMICON West 2010 co-located with Intersolar North America

More than 100 exhibitors at SEMICON West will showcase technologies for PV manufacturing alongside offerings for the semiconductor, MEMS, LED, and related microelectronics markets. Along with hundreds of additional PV-focused exhibitors at the co-located Intersolar North America exposition, SEMICON West is one of the fastest-growing events for PV manufacturing in the United States. More details at www.semiconwest.org

About SEMI PV Group:

The PV Group is a SEMI special interest group that serves the photovoltaic supply chain. Participating companies provide manufacturing equipment, materials, cells, modules, sub-systems, and components to the solar energy industry worldwide. The PV Group mission is to advance industry growth, support continuous efficiency improvements and promote sustainable business practices through international standards development, events, public policy advocacy, EHS support, market intelligence, and other services. For more information, visit: www.pvgroup.org